now, that are free from Idolatry; and therefore the Absurdities in the
Worship of all the Rest are pretty much alike; at least, the
Difference in the Degrees of Mens Folly, as Idolaters, is very
inconsiderable. For how unknown soever an invisible Cause, Power, or
Being may be, that is incomprehensible, this is certain of it, that no
clear intelligible Idea can be form'd of it; and that no Figure can
describe it. All Attempts then, to represent the Deity, being equally
vain and frivolous, no One Shape or Form can be imagin'd of it, that
can justly be said to be more or less absurd than another. As to the
temporal Benefit which Religion can be of to the Civil Society, or the
Political View which Lawgivers and Governours may have in promoting
it, the chief Use of it is in Promises of Allegiance and Loyalty, and
all solemn Engagements and Asseverations, in which the invisible
Power, that, in every Country, is the Object of the Publick Worship,
is involved or appeal'd to. For these Purposes all Religions are
equally serrviceable; and the worst is better than none: For without
the belief of an invisible Cause, no Man's Word is to be relied upon,
no Vows or Protestations can be depended upon; but as soon as a Man
believes, that there is a Power somewhere, that will certainly punish
him, if he forswears himself; as soon, I say, as a Man believes this,
we have Reason to trust to his Oath; at least, it is a better Test
than any other Verbal Assurance. But what this same Person believes
further, concerning the Nature and the Essence of that Power he swears
by, the Worship it requires, or whether he conceives it in the
singular or plural Number, may be very material to himself, but the
Socicty has Nothing to do with it: Because it can make no Alteration
in the Security which his Swearing gives us. I don't deny the
Usefulness which even the worst Religion that can be, may be of to
Politicians and the Civil Society: But what I insist upon, is, that
the temporal Benefit of it, or the Contrivance of Oaths and Swearing,
could never have enter'd into the the Heads of Politician, if the Fear
of an invisible Cause had not pre-existed and been supposed to be
universal, any more than they would have contrived matrimony, if the
Desire of Procreation had not been planted in Human Nature and visible
in both Sexes. Passions don't affect us, but when they are provoked:
The Fear of Death is a Reality in our Nature: But the greatest Cowards
may, and often do, live Forty Years and longer, without being
disturb'd by it. The Fear of an invisible Cause is as real in our
Nature, as the Fear of Death; either of them may be conquer'd perhaps;
but so may Lust; and Experience teaches us, that how violent soever
the Desire of Propagating our Species may be whilst we are young, it
goes off, and is often entirely lost in old Age. When I hear a Man
say, that he never felt any Fear of an invisible Cause, that was not
owing to Education, I believe him as much as I do a young married
Woman in Health and Vigour, who tells me, that she never felt any Love
to a Man, that did not proceed from a Sense of her Duty.
Hor. Does this Fear, this Acknowledgment of an invisible Cause,
dispose or excite men any more to the true Religion, than it does to
the grossest and most abominable Idolatry?
Cleo. I don't say it does. But there is no Passion in Human Nature so
beneficial, that, according as it is managed, may not do Mischief as
well as good. What do you think of Love? If this Fear had not been
common to the whole Species, none could have been influenc'd by it;
the Consequence of which must have been, that Men would have rejected
the true Religion as well as the false. There is Nothing that Men may
differ in, in which they will ever be all of the same Opinion: And
abstruse Truths do often seem to be less probable than well dress'd
Fables, when they are skilfully accommodated to our Understanding, and
agreeable to our own Way of thinking. That there is but one God, the
Creator of Heaven and Earth, that is an all-wise and perfectly good
Being, without any Mixture of Evil, would have been a most rational
Opinion, tho' it had not been reveal'd. But Reasoning and Metaphysicks
must have been carried on to a great Height of Perfection, before this
Truth could be penetrated into by the Light of Nature. _Plutarch_, who
was a Man of great Learning, and has in many Things display'd good
Sense and Capacity, thought it impossible, that one Being should have
been the Cause of the Whole, and was therefore of Opinion, that there
must have been Two Principles; the one to produce all the Good; and
the other all the Evil that is in the World. And Some of the greatest
men have been of this Opinion, both before and since the Promulgation
of the Gospel. But whatever Philosophers and men of Letters may have
advanced, there never was an Age or a Country where the Vulgar would
ever come into an Opinion that contradicted that Fear, which all men
are born with, of an invisible Cause, that meddles and interferes in
Human Affairs; and there is a greater Possibility, that the most
Senseless Enthusiast should make a knowing and polite Nation believe
the most incredible Falsities, or that the most odious Tyrant should
persuade them to the grossest Idolatry, than that the most artful
Politician, or the most popular Prince, should make Atheism to be
universally received among the Vulgar of any considerable State or
Kingdom, tho' there were no Temples or Priests to be seen. From all
which I would shew, that, on the one Hand, you can make no Multitudes
believe contrary to what they feel, or what contradicts a Passion
inherent in their Nature, and that, on the other, if you humour that
Passion, and allow it to be just, you may regulate it as you please.
How unanimous soever, therefore, all Rulers and Magistrates have
seem'd to be in promoting some Religion or other, the Principle of it
was not of their Invention. They found it in Man; and the Fear of an
invisible Cause being universal, if Governours had said nothing of it,
every Man in his own Breast would have found Fault with them, and had
a Superstition of his own to himself. It has often been seen, that the
most subtle Unbelievers among Politicians have been forced, for their
own Quiet, to counterfeit their Attachment to religion, when they
would a Thousand Times rather have done without it.
Hor. It is not in the Power then, you think, of Politicians, to
contradict the Passions, or deny the Existence of them, but that, when
once they have allow'd them to be just and natural, they may guide Men
in the Indulgence of them, as they please.
Cleo. I do so; and the Truth of this is evident likewise in another
Passion, (_viz_) that of Love, which I hinted at before; and Marriage
was not invented to make Men procreate; they had that Desire before;
but it was instituted to regulate a strong Passion, and prevent the
innumerable Mischiefs that would ensue, if Men and Women should
converse together promiscuosly, and love and leave one another as
Caprice and their unruly Fancy led them. Thus we see, that every
Legislator has regulated Matrimony in that Way, which, to the best of
his Skill, he imagin'd would be the most proper to promote the Peace
Felicity in general of Those he govern'd: And how great an Imposter
soever _Mahomet_ was, I can never believe, that he would have allow'd
his _Mussulmen_ Three or Four Wives a piece, if he had thought it
better, than one; Man should be contented with and confin'd to One
Woman; I mean better upon the Whole, more beneficial to the Civil
Society, as well in Consideration of the Climate he lived in--, as the
Nature and the Temperament of those _Arabians_ he gave his Laws to.
Hor. But what is all this to the Origin of Honour? What Reason have
you to think it to be of Gothick Extraction?
Cleo. My Conjecture concerning Honour, as it signifies a Principle
from which Men act, is, that it is an Invention of Politicians, to
keep Men close to their Promises and Engagements, when all other Ties
prov'd ineffectual; and the Christian Religion itself was often found
insufficient for that Purpose.
Hor. But the Belief of an over-ruling Power, that will certainly
punish Perjury and Injustice, being common to all Religions, what
pre-eminence has the Christian over the Rest, as to the Civil Society
in Temporals?
Cleo. It shews and insists upon the Necessity of that Belief more
amply and more emphatically than any other. Besides, the Strictness of
its Morality, and the exemplary Lives of Those who preach'd it, gain'd
vast Credit to the mysterious Part of it; and there never had been a
Doctrine or Philosophy from which it was so likely to expect, that it
would produce Honesty, mutual Love and Faithfulness in the Discharge
of all Duties and Engagements as the Christian Religion. The wisest
Moralists, before that Time, has laid the greatest Stress on the
Reasonableness of their precepts; and appeal'd to Human Understanding
for the Truth of their Opinions. But the Gospel, soaring beyond the
Reach of Reason, teaches us many Things, which no Mortal could ever
have known, unless they had been reveal'd to him; and several that
must always remain incomprehensible to finite Capacities; and this is
the Reason, that the Gospel presses and enjoins Nothing with more
Earnestness than Faith and Believing.
Hor. But would Men be more sway'd by Things they believed only, than
they would be by those they understood?
Cleo. All Human Creatures are sway'd and wholly govern'd by their
Passions, whatever fine Notions we may flatter our Selves with; even
those who act suitably to their Knowledge, and strictly follow the
Dictates of their Reason, are not less compell'd so to do by some
Passion or other, that sets them to Work, than others, who bid
Defiance and act contrary to Both, and whom we call Slaves to their
Passions. To love Virtue for the Beauty of it, and curb one's
Appetites because it is most reasonable so to do, are very good Things
in Theory; but whoever understands our Nature, and consults the
Practice of Human Creatures, would sooner expect from them, that they
should abstain from Vice, for Fear of Punishment, and do good, in
Hopes of being rewarded for it.
Hor. Would you prefer that Goodness, built upon Selfishness and
Mercenary Principles, to that which proceeds from a Rectitude of
Thinking, and a real Love of Virtue and Reasonableness of Mens
Actions?
Cleo. We can give no better Proof of our Reasonableness, than by
judging rightly. When a Man wavers in his Choice, between present
Enjoyments of Ease and Pleasure, and the Discharge of Duties that are
troublesome, he weighs what Damage or benefit will accrue to him upon
the Whole, as well from the Neglect as the Observence of the Duties
that are prescrib'd to him; and the greater the Punishment is he fears
from the Neglect, and the more transcendent the Reward is which he
hopes for from the Observance, the more reasonably he acts, when he
sides with his Duty. To bear with Inconveniencies, Pain and Sorrow, in
Hopes of being eternally Happy, and refuse the Enjoyments of Pleasure,
for Fear of being Miserable for ever, are more justifiable to Reason,
and more consonant to good Sense, than it is to do it for Nothing.
Hor. But our Divines will tell you, that this Slavish Fear is
unacceptable, and that the Love of God ought to be the Motive of good
Actions.
Cleo. I have Nothing against the refin'd Notions of the Love of God,
but this is not what I would now speak of. My Design was only to
prove, that the more firmly Men believe Rewards and Punishments from
an invisible Cause, and the more this Belief always influences them in
all their Actions, the closer they'll keep to Justice and all Promises
and Engagements. It is this that was always most wanted in the Civil
Society; and, before the Coming of _Christ_, Nothing had appear'd upon
Earth, from which this grand _Desideratum_, this Blessing, might so
reasonably be expected as it might from his Doctrine. In the Beginning
of Christianity, and whilst the Gospel was explain'd without any
Regard to Wordly Views, to be a Soldier was thought inconsistent with
the Profession of a Christian; but this Strictness of the
Gospel-Principles began to be disapproved of in the Second Century.
The Divines of those Days were most of them become arrant Priests, and
saw plainly, that a Religion, which would not allow its Votaries to
assist at Courts or Armies, and comply with the vain World, could
never be made National; consequently, the Clergy of it could never
acquire any considerable Power upon Earth. In Spirituals they were the
Successors of the Apostles, but in Temporals they wanted to succeed
the Pagan Priests, whose Possessions they look'd upon with wishful
Eyes; and Worldly Strength and Authority being absolutely necessary to
establish Dominion, it was agreed, that Christians might be Soldiers,
and in a just War fight with the Enemies of their Country. But
Experience soon taught them, that those Christians, whose Consciences
would suffer them to be Soldiers, and to act contrary to the Doctrine
of Peace, were not more strict Observers of other Duties; that Pride,
Avarice and Revenge ranged among them as they did among the Heathens,
and that many of them were guilty of Drunkenness and Incontinence,
Fraud and Injustice, at the same Time that they pretended to great
Zeal, and were great Sticklers for their Religion. This made it
evident, that there could be no Religion so strict, no System of
Morality so refin'd, nor Theory so well meaning, but some People might
pretend to profess and follow it, and yet be loose Livers, and wicked
in their Practice.
Hor. Those who profess to be of a Theory, which they contradict by
their Practice, are, without Doubt, hypocrites.
Cleo. I have more Charity than to think so. There are real Believers
that lead Wicked Lives; and Many stick not at Crimes, which they never
would have dared to commit, if the Terrors of the Divine Justice, and
the Flames of Hell, had struck their Imagination, and been before them
in the same Manner as they really believe they shall be; or if at that
Time their Fears had made the same Impression upon them, which they do
at others, when the Evil dreaded seems to be near. Things at a
Distance, tho' we are sure that they are to come, make little
Impression upon us in Comparison with those that are present and
immediately before us. This is evident in the Affair of Death: There
is No Body who does not believe, that he must die, Mr. _Asgil_ perhaps
excepted; yet it hardly ever employs People's Thoughts, even of Those
who are most terribly afraid of it whilst they are in perfect Health,
and have every Thing they like. Man is never better pleas'd than when
he is employ'd in procuring Ease and Pleasure, in thinking on his own
Worth, and mending his Condition upon Earth. Whether This is laid on
the Devil or our Attachment to the World, it is plain to me, that it
flows from Man's Nature, always to mind to Flatter, Love, and take
Delight in himself; and that he cares as little as possible ever to be
interupted in this grand Employment. As every organ, and every part of
Man, seems to be made and wisely contriv'd for the Functions of this
Life only, so his Nature prompts him, not to have any Sollicitude for
Things beyond this World. The Care of Self-Preservation we are born
with, does not extend it self beyond this Life; therefore every
Creature dreads Death as the Dissolution of its Being, the Term not to
be exceeded, the End of All. How various and unreasonable soever our
Wishes may be, and how enormous the Multiplicity of our Desires, they
terminate in Life, and all the Objects of them are on this Side the
Grave.
Hor. Has not a Man Desires beyond the Grave, who buys an Estate, not
to be enjoy'd but by his Heirs, and enters into Agreements that shall
be binding for a Thousand Years.
Cleo. All the Pleasure and Satisfaction that can arise from the
Reflection on our Heirs, is enjoy'd in this Life: And the Benefits and
Advantages we wish to our Posterity are of the same Nature with those
which we would wish to our Selves if we were to live; and what we take
Care of is, that they shall be Rich, keep their Possessions, and that
their Estates, Authority and Prerogatives shall never diminish, but
rather encrease. We look upon Posterity as the Effect of which we are
the Cause, and we reckon our Selves as it were to continue in them.
Hor. But the Ambitious that are in Pursuit of Glory, and sacrifise
their Lives to Fame and a lasting Reputation, sure they have Wishes
beyond the Grave.
Cleo. Tho' a Man should stretch and carry his Ambition to the End of
the World, and desire not to be forgot as long as that stood, yet the
Pleasure that arises from the Reflection on what shall be said of him
Thousands and Thousand of Years after, can only be enjoy'd in this
Life. If a vain Coxcomb, whose Memory shall die with him, can be but
firmly persuaded, that he shall leave an eternal Name, the Reflection
may give him as much Pleasure as the greatest Hero can receive from
reflecting on what shall really render him immortal. A Man, who is not
regenerated, can have no Notion of another World, or future happiness;
therefore his Longing after it cannot be very strong. Nothing can
affect us forcibly but what strikes the Senses, or such Things which
we are conscious of within. By the Light of Nature only, we are
capable of demonstrating to our Selves the necessity of a First Cause,
a Supreme Being; but the Existence of a Deity cannot be render'd more
manifest to our Reason, than his Essence is unknown and
incomprehensible to our Understanding.
Hor. I don't see what you drive at.
Cleo. I am endeavouring to account for the small Effect and little
Force, which Religion, and the Belief of future Punishments, may be of
to mere Man, unassisted with the Divine Grace. The Practice of nominal
Christians is perpetually clashing with the Theory they profess.
Innumerable Sins are committed in private, which the Presence of a
Child, or the most insignificant Person, might have hinder'd, by Men
who believe God to be omniscient, and never question'd his Ubiquity.
Hor. But pray, come to the Point, the Origin of Honour.
Cleo. If we consider, that men are always endeavouring to mend their
Condition and render Society more happy as to this World we may easily
conceive, when it was evident that Nothing could be a Check upon Man
that was absent, or at least appear'd not to be present, how Moralists
and Politicians came to look for Something in Man himself, to keep him
in Awe. The more they examin'd into Human Nature, the more they must
have been convinced, that Man is so Selfish a Creature, that, whilst
he is at Liberty, the greatest Part of his Time will always be
bestow'd upon himself; and that whatever Fear or Revenerence he might
have for an invisible Cause, that Thought was often jostled out by
others, more nearly relating to himself. It is obvious likewise, that
he neither loves nor esteems any Thing so well as he does his own
Individual; and that here is Nothing, which he has so constantly
before his Eyes, as his own dear Self. It is highly probable, that
skilful Rulers, having made these observations for some Time, would be
tempted to try if Man could not be made an Object of Reverence to
himself.
Hor. You have only named Love and Esteem; they alone cannot produce
Reverence by your own Maxim; how could they make a man afraid of
himself?
Cleo. By improving upon his Dread of Shame; and this, I am persuaded,
was the Case: For as soon as it was found out, that many vicious,
quarrelsome, and undaunted Men, that fear'd neither God nor Devil,
were yet often curb'd and visibly with-held by the Fear of Shame; and
likewise that this Fear of Shame might be greatly encreas'd by an
artful Education, and be made superiour even to that of Death, they
had made a Discovery of a real Tie, that would serve many noble
Purposes in the Society. This I take to have been the Origin of
Honour, the Principle of which has its Foundation in Self-liking; and
no Art could ever have fix'd or rais'd it in any Breast, if that
Passion had not pre-existed and been predominant there.
Hor. But, how are you sure, that this was the Work of Moralists and
Politicians, as you seem to insinuate?
Cleo. I give those Names promiscuously to All that, having studied
Human Nature, have endeavour'd to civilize Men, and render them more
and more tractable, either for the Ease of Governours and Magistrates,
or else for the Temporal Happiness of Society in general. I think of
all Inventions of this Sort, the same which told [4] you of
Politeness, that they are the joint Labour of Many, Human Wisdom is
the Child of Time. It was not the Contrivance of one Man, nor could it
have been the Business of a few Years, to establish a Notion, by which
a rational Creature is kept in Awe for Fear of it Self, and an Idol is
set up, that shall be its own Worshiper.
[Footnote 4: Fable of the Bees, Part. II. page 132.]
Hor. But I deny, that in the Fear of Shame we are afraid of our
Selves. What we fear, is the judgment of others, and the ill Opinion
they will justly have of us.
Cleo. Examine this thoroughly, and you'll find, that when we covet
Glory, or dread Infamy, it is not the good or bad Opinion of others
that affects us with Joy or Sorrow, Pleasure or Pain; but it is the
Notion we form of that Opinion of theirs, and must proceed from the
Regard and Value we have for it. If it was otherwise, the most
Shameless Fellow would suffer as much in his Mind from publick
Disgrace and Infamy, as a Man that values his Reputation. Therefore it
is the Notion we have of Things, our own Thought and Something within
our Selves, that creates the Fear of Shame: For if I have a Reason,
why I forbear to do a Thing to Day, which it is impossible should be
known before to Morrow, I must be with-held by Something that exists
already; for Nothing can act upon me the Day before it has its Being.
Hor. The Upshot is I find, that Honour is of the same Origin with
Virtue.
Cleo. But the Invention of Honour, as a Principle, is of a much later
Date; and I look upon it as the greater Atchievement by far. It was an
Improvement in the Art of Flattery, by which the Excellency of our
Species is raised to such a Height, that it becomes the Object of our
own Adoration, and Man is taught in good Earnest to worship himself.
Hor. But granting you, that both Virtue and Honour are of Human
Contrivance, why do you look upon the Invention of the One to be a
greater Atchievement than that of the other?
Cleo. Because the One is more skilfully adapted to our inward Make.
Men are better paid for their Adherence to Honour, than they are for
their Adherence to Virtue: The First requires less Self-denial; and
the Rewards they receive for that Little are not imaginary but real
and palpable. But Experience confirms what I say: The Invention of
Honour has been far more beneficial to the Civil Society than that of
Virtue, and much better answer'd the End for which they were invented.
For ever since the Notion of Honour has been receiv'd among
Christians, there have always been, in the same Number of People,
Twenty Men of real Honour, to One of real Virtue. The Reason is
obvious. The Persuasions to Virtue make no Allowances, nor have any
Allurements that are clashing with the Principle of it; whereas the
Men of Pleasure, the Passionate and the Malicious, may all in their
Turns meet with Opportunities of indulging their darling Appetites
without trespassing against the Principle of Honour. A virtuous Man
thinks himself obliged to obey the Laws of his Country; but a Man of
Honour acts from a Principle which he is bound to believe Superiour to
all Laws. Do but consider the Instinct of Sovereignty that all Men are
born with, and you'll find, that in the closest Attachment to the
Principle of Honour there are Enjoyments that are ravishing to Human
Nature. A virtuous Man expects no Acknowledgments from others; and if
they won't believe him to be virtuous, his Business is not to force
them to it; but a Man of Honour has the Liberty openly to proclaim
himself to be such, and call to an Account Every body who dares to
doubt of it: Nay, such is the inestimable Value he sets upon himself,
that he often endeavours to punish with Death the most insignificant
Trespass that's committed against him, the least Word, Look, or
Motion, if he can find but any far-fetch'd reason to suspect a Design
in it to under-value him; and of this No body is allow'd to be a Judge
but himself. The Enjoyments that arise from being virtuous are of that
Nicety, that every ordinary Capacity cannot relish them: As, without
Doubt, there is a noble Pleasure in forgiving of Injuries, to
Speculative Men that have refin'd Notions of Virtue; but it is more
Natural to resent them; and in revenging one's self, there is a
Pleasure which the meanest Understanding is capable of tasting. It is
manifest then, that there are Allurements in the Principle of Honour,
to draw in Men of the lowest Capacity, and even the vicious, which
Virtue has not.
Hor. I can't see, how a Man can be really virtuous, who is not
likewise a Man of Honour. A Person may desire to be Honest, and have
an Aversion to Injustice, but unless he has Courage, he will not
always dare to be just, and may on many Occasions be afraid to do his
Duty. There is no Dependance to be had on a Coward, who may be bully'd
into vicious Actions, and every Moment be frighten'd from his
Principle.
Cleo. It never was pretended, that a Man could be Virtuous and a
Coward at the same Time, since Fortitude is the very First of the Four
Cardinal Virtues. As much Courage and Intrepidity as you please; but a
virtuous Man will never display his Valour with Ostentation, where the
Laws of God and Men forbid him to make Use of it. What I would
demonstrate, is, that there are many Allowances, gross Indulgences to
Human Nature in the Principle of Honour, especially of modern Honour,
that are always exclaim'd against by the Voice of Virtue, and
diametrically opposite to the Doctrine of _Christ._
Hor. Yet the further we look back for these Seven or Eight Hundred
years, the more we shall find Honour and Religion blended together.
Cleo. When Ignorance, for several Ages, had been successfully
encouraged and was designedly introduced to make Way for Credulity,
the Simplicity of the Gospel and the Doctrine of _Christ_ were turn'd
into Gaudy Foppery and vile Superstition. It was then, that the Church
of _Rome_ began openly to execute her deep-laid Plot for enslaving the
Laity. Knowing, that no Power or Authority can be established or long
maintain'd upon Earth without real Strength and Force of Arms, she
very early coax'd the Soldiery, and made all Men of Valour her Tools
by Three Maxims, that, if skilfully follow'd, will never fail of
engaging Mankind in our Favour.
Hor. What are those, pray.